The GWJ CRPG Club - Part 1 - Old Thread

Voting Update

At the end of Day 2, Pillars of Eternity holds a steady yet narrow lead over Baldur's Gate and Planescape, with Vampire having faded some. Avernum and Wasteland 2 sit in the middle of the pack. Jade Empire, Ultima, and Icewind Dale fill out the field.

I imagine voting will slow down quite a bit as we wait for Sunday's deadline. Last time we called it early, but because we've already got a game running, we'll just let voting run its course until the end.

Pillars of Eternity - 15
Baldur’s Gate EE - 12
Planescape: Torment - 12
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - 9
Avernum - 7
Wasteland 2 - 6
Jade Empire - 3
Ultima VII - 3
Icewind Dale - 2

Candidates
Avernum: Escape From the Pit ($9.99) (39 hours)
Baldurs Gate EE ($19.99) (31 hours)
Icewind Dale($19.99) (32 hours)
Jade Empire ($14.99) (14 hours)
Pillars of Eternity ($29.99) (36 hours) ($11.39 on Fanatical until 3/25)
Planescape: Torment ($19.99) (32 hours) ($6.79 on Fanatical until 3/23)
Ultima VII: The Black Gate ($5.99) (43 hours)
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines ($19.99) (23 hours)
Wasteland 2 ($39.99)(37.5 hours)

(Current cost and average playtime follow each game's title.)

I'd also like to extend a welcome to imbiginjapan, mrlogical, Chronox, and jdzappa! Your votes are tallied and I've added you to the list in the first post.

Shadout wrote:

The slow pace on the other hand is a feature!

Challenge ... Accepted!

I'm also excited that the three top runners are full-length RPGs. This is will be a step up in challenge from Dragonfall—which was a great first game—but well on the shorter end of things for average RPG length.

pyxistyx wrote:
Shadout wrote:

The slow pace on the other hand is a feature!

I always get a far as a certain optional multi-level dungeon and then stall, dramatically (ridiculously, I think I have around 58 hours in the game, just from various attempts to get past that point in the game).

Maybe this time though (assuming it wins)! Hopefully the club will give me the incentive to push through!

This will be a Level Up Challenge for me as well.

I still clocked some 60 hours in Dragonfall. Heaven help me with a longer title.

imbiginjapan wrote:

I only have OG Baldur's gate (with a big ol' helping of mods), but I could still play along, mostly.

Same here but I have BG1 + 2 modded to be close to the EE

RnRClown wrote:

I still clocked some 60 hours in Dragonfall. Heaven help me with a longer title.

Ha! Good thing we have six months?

Maybe others can chime in, but those How Long to Beat estimates generally seem pretty low.

I'm hoping I can keep chipping away at whatever game wins and eventually I'll make it through. Habit > Motivation. Playing the Dragonfall games in 30- to 90-minute chunks per day worked well for me, and I'm going to try that again this time around.

Alright, I passed on joining for the Dragonfall club (despite having backed Shadowrun and barely played either of the first two games), but I'll throw in my votes for this time around:

Pillars of Eternity (backed, but played for under an hour; snagging the DLCs now)
Planescape: Torment (thanks for providing the incentive to pick it up on Fanatical, Aaron D!)
Neverwinter Nights 2 (assuming it's OK to nominate something not currently on the list )

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Maybe others can chime in, but those How Long to Beat estimates generally seem pretty low.

I always mentally multiply the "leisure" estimates on How Long to Beat by at least 1.2. Using 1.5 x leisure tends to be fairly accurate.

I initially joined up as it fit well within my purpose of getting through some backlog, but Pillars would mean adding to that backlog...I could sit out this round, but participating with the group was too compelling to make that appealing. Besides, can't miss my next chance to level up!

I need to be added to the list too.

This sounds like fun, I'd love to join in. I want to put in a vote Wasteland 2.

Welcome merhple, WizKid, and SpaceDog!

Operators are processing your memberships as I write this.

Voting Update

Closing in on the halfway mark, with a majority of the vote in, Pillars of Eternity holds a steady 3-vote lead.

Pillars of Eternity - 16
Planescape: Torment - 13
Baldur’s Gate EE - 12
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - 9
Avernum - 7
Wasteland 2 - 7
Jade Empire - 3
Ultima VII - 3
Icewind Dale - 2

Candidates
Avernum: Escape From the Pit ($9.99) (39 hours)
Baldurs Gate EE ($19.99) (31 hours)
Icewind Dale($19.99) (32 hours)
Jade Empire ($14.99) (14 hours)
Pillars of Eternity ($29.99) (36 hours) ($11.39 on Fanatical until 3/25)
Planescape: Torment ($19.99) (32 hours) ($6.79 on Fanatical until 3/23)
Ultima VII: The Black Gate ($5.99) (43 hours)
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines ($19.99) (23 hours)
Wasteland 2 ($39.99)(37.5 hours)

(Current cost and average playtime follow each game's title.)

I have three of these on my backlog, so I'll vote for them. I actually played a good way into VTMB a few years ago, but I think I tinkered with my mods and broke the game, and never bothered to go back.

Pillars of Eternity
Wasteland 2
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

I completely failed at playing Shadowrun - it just didn't click for me. I was thinking I wasn't going to vote. However, I've already made up characters for Pillars of Eternity and played for an hour, promising to get back to it later this year. So I'll add to the pile:

Pillars of Eternity

Welcome Sundown and Aristophan, and thanks for voting!

benign1 wrote:

Besides, can't miss my next chance to level up!

Oh no, the group has been gamified and levelling added? Now I'm definitely going to have to get back to Shadowrun!

If you aren’t opposed to adding to the backlog; GOG has the Ultima series on sale again.

EDIT: Baldur's Gate EE, Planescape EE, Icewind Dale, and ect too.

Bubblefuzz wrote:
benign1 wrote:

Besides, can't miss my next chance to level up!

Oh no, the group has been gamified and levelling added? Now I'm definitely going to have to get back to Shadowrun!

LOL, I already beat Dragonfall ages ago. Do I get to transfer my XP?

Bubblefuzz wrote:
benign1 wrote:

Besides, can't miss my next chance to level up!

Oh no, the group has been gamified and levelling added? Now I'm definitely going to have to get back to Shadowrun!

We need to add achievements to this.

IMAGE(https://s3.amazonaws.com/achgenwow/t/a_QcFiTKpB.png)

imbiginjapan wrote:

LOL, I already beat Dragonfall ages ago. Do I get to transfer my XP?

Actually, I want that too! Maybe if we post our gamerscore as proof.

For Pillars are we doing base game or base and DLC?

Yoreel wrote:

For Pillars are we doing base game or base and DLC?

For the "official" group game, it would just be the base game. A number of people who finished Dragonfall, though, ended up playing one or both of the other Shadowrun games. In the same way, there might be some who want to play Pillars and White March, and talk about both experiences in the thread.

imbiginjapan wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:
benign1 wrote:

Besides, can't miss my next chance to level up!

Oh no, the group has been gamified and levelling added? Now I'm definitely going to have to get back to Shadowrun!

LOL, I already beat Dragonfall ages ago. Do I get to transfer my XP?

LOL. I was thinking that the Leveling might be a lighthearted way to casually highlight both group participation and completion, so that it would go to people who completed the game as part of the group during the playthrough period, not necessarily before or after. In other words, the "group" element is as important than the "completion" element. Some people even played Dragonfall for the second time to be part of the group, and shared thoughts, observations, and stories as they played through again.

There is plenty of time left to play it, and I know there are still a handful of people making their way through the game. I bet they would enjoy company.

Achievements would be cool! "Make 30 posts in the club discussion thread." or "Play the core game and a DLC during the playthrough period." or "Complete your playthrough without sleeping." Probably a bit more than we'd want to manage, though.

If Pillars win, and I join in, it will be my 6th playthrough. I really should not do it.
Go Icewind Dale!

My votes:
Pillars of Eternity
Baldur's Gate EE
Avernum

For the really bored, here's my thinking...
Having completed Dragonfall, I wanted to vote for a longer game, to see if I can level up my RPG completion skills. So that led me away from Vampire and Jade Empire, the shorter two games on the list. And having played Dragonfall, I thought it might be good to switch gears to a more traditional swords and sorcery RPG this time, so that led me away from Wasteland 2 and Planescape (both of which I'm sure I will vote for in the future, just not now). I really like the idea of playing non-mainstream or older games too, so I wanted to vote for one candidate in that category. As much I really want to play Ultima, I wondered if as a group we need more experience before we could get to a place where that would be a game with wide appeal. So that pushed one vote to Avernum instead, which looks really cool. That left PoE, BG, and ID. As much as I would like to play ID, I'm more interested in BG or PoE at the moment.

Wow, that got way longer than I thought it would.

Voting Update

With 48 hours to go, it's looking more and more like Pillars of Eternity! I downloaded and installed the game last night.

Pillars of Eternity - 19
Baldur’s Gate EE - 13
Planescape: Torment - 13
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - 10
Avernum - 8
Wasteland 2 - 8
Jade Empire - 3
Ultima VII - 3
Icewind Dale - 2

Candidates
Avernum: Escape From the Pit ($9.99) (39 hours)
Baldurs Gate EE ($19.99) (31 hours) ($4.99 on GOG now)
Icewind Dale($19.99) (32 hours)
Jade Empire ($14.99) (14 hours)
Pillars of Eternity ($29.99) (36 hours) ($11.39 on Fanatical until 3/25)
Planescape: Torment ($19.99) (32 hours) ($6.79 on Fanatical until 3/23)
Ultima VII: The Black Gate ($5.99) (43 hours) ($1.49 on sale now on GOG!)
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines ($19.99) (23 hours)
Wasteland 2 ($39.99)(37.5 hours)

(Current cost and average playtime follow each game's title.)

Planescape Torment: EE

Avernum
Vampire
Wasteland 2

for me!

I may be throwing away my vote but that's never stopped me before!
Icewind Dale
Baldurs Gate EE
Wastelands 2

Shadout wrote:

If Pillars win, and I join in, it will be my 6th playthrough. I really should not do it.
Go Icewind Dale!

Whoa, that's a LOT! When we start the thread, I'd be curious to hear your character build recommendations. I was reading a bit last night and there are lots of choices for what type of main character to play.

Voting Update

In the home stretch now, less than 24 hours to go. Pundits are estimating a 93.2% victory chance for Pillars of Eternity.

And just a quick heads up. PoE is on sale for another 36 hours for $11.39 instead of $29.99, so if you'd like to play along but don't have the game, there is opportunity to jump in pretty cheaply. Link is below.

Pillars of Eternity - 19
Baldur’s Gate EE - 14
Planescape: Torment - 14
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - 11
Wasteland 2 - 10
Avernum - 9
Jade Empire - 3
Ultima VII - 3
Icewind Dale - 3

Candidates
Avernum: Escape From the Pit ($9.99) (39 hours)
Baldurs Gate EE ($19.99) (31 hours) ($4.99 on GOG now)
Icewind Dale($19.99) (32 hours)
Jade Empire ($14.99) (14 hours)
Pillars of Eternity ($29.99) (36 hours) ($11.39 on Fanatical until 3/25)
Planescape: Torment ($19.99) (32 hours)
Ultima VII: The Black Gate ($5.99) (43 hours) ($1.49 on sale now on GOG!)
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines ($19.99) (23 hours)
Wasteland 2 ($39.99)(37.5 hours)

(Current cost and average playtime follow each game's title.)

I just picked up Pillars on PS4. The offer runs for a while yet, for those considering doing the same.

I watched a stream showcasing the changes to the UI and control scheme. It looks great. Scaled text and UI for television screen size, and viewing distance. A toggle for cursor control whilst traversing and exploring. Either point and click as on PC, such as with Baldur's Gate, or move characters and interact with the world relative to their proximity, with the left analog stick. Whilst in combat cursor control becomes mandatory. Well thought out radial wheels have everything within swift reach, with the most frequent choices (inventory, journal, map) positioned at twelve, three, six, and nine, o'clock. Toggle AI control on or off. Select the entire party or single members. Inventory management. It all seemed very intuitive.

RnRClown wrote:

I just picked up Pillars on PS4. The offer runs for a while yet, for those considering doing the same.

I was thinking to post a link but it looks like this is EU only? The USA store I found shows $49.99.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
RnRClown wrote:

I just picked up Pillars on PS4. The offer runs for a while yet, for those considering doing the same.

I was thinking to post a link but it looks like this is EU only? The USA store I found shows $49.99.

That's an oops moment from me. Bubblefuzz, I believe, mentioned its EU exclusivity (at least at this time) a page back. I should also have mentioned so.

I forget that we're from all over the globe sometimes.

RnRClown wrote:

I watched a stream showcasing the changes to the UI and control scheme. It looks great. Scaled text and UI for television screen size, and viewing distance. A toggle for cursor control whilst traversing and exploring. Either point and click as on PC, such as with Baldur's Gate, or move characters and interact with the world relative to their proximity, with the left analog stick. Whilst in combat cursor control becomes mandatory. Well thought out radial wheels have everything within swift reach, with the most frequent choices (inventory, journal, map) positioned at twelve, three, six, and nine, o'clock. Toggle AI control on or off. Select the entire party or single members. Inventory management. It all seemed very intuitive.

It drives me nuts when console ports of PC games get this treatment, but it doesn't get backported to the PC original.

Some of us have PCs on our living room TVs that act as our "consoles". This would have been a nice option.